Damn right he's better than yours
by Hollyberries and Vanilla beans
Summary: Amelia F. Jones is absolutely ecstatic when she gets accepted into one of the best horseback riding schools in the World. However, not everyone is as happy to have her attending as she is. The first person she runs into is an extremely sexy German rider who also happens to be... well... kind of an ass... Can Amelia prove that she and her horse have what it takes to be the best?
1. Chapter 1

Amelia bounded out of her room in the small apartment she shared with her sister when she smelled bacon, eggs, and pancakes cooking in the kitchen. "MADDIE!" Her sister sighed, listening to the pounding of her sister's feet down the hall, as she flipped the bacon. "Amelia, it's a small apartment. There's no need to yell. And stop running, I don't want the people downstairs to report us as a public disturbance... again." Amelia grinned as she yanked one of the mismatched chairs away from the dining room table (card table) and plopped down. Madeline put the food onto plates, heaping a considerately larger portion on the one that belonged to her sister. Padding quietly over to the table, she slide Amelia's plate in front of her. She blinked and half of it was gone. "Could you not eat like a starving hyena, please?" Amelia lifted her egg covered face up from her plate. "MMMPH?" "And swallow before you begin to speak."

Madeline handed her sister a napkin. Amelia gulped, making an audible chocking sound as she reached for the glass of water her sister had (brilliantly) already placed on the table for this exact reason. After several long swallows, she slammed the glass back down. "AREN'T YOU EXCITED?!" Madeline flinched and set her fork down. "Amelia, inside voice please." Amelia ducked her head with a sheepish grin and whispered. "Oh, right. Sorry... But it's our first day of college! How great is this going to be?!" Amelia was once again (not to her sister's surprise, of course) near yelling. "I can't believe we both made the same college! I'm lucky they were looking for western riders on their Equestrian team, huh?" Madeline nodded and took a sip of her own water. Thinking back to the moment they both opened their acceptance letters, it had been a shock to see Amelia had gotten in. It was no secret that Amelia wasn't really... the best in her classes. Unlike Madeline, she had gotten in on a scholarship for horseback riding.

The fact that this school had some of the best dressage trainers and jumpers in the world was well know. Anyone who was anyone in the horse industry wanted to get in. Lately though, due to the increase in Western style riding popularity, they wanted to add 'Reiners' to the school. And Amelia just so happened to be one of the best in the country. Madeline watched as Amelia shoveled the rest of her food into her mouth and rose from the table. Madeline continued to eat delicately as she heard her sister nosily drop her dishes into the sink. "Are you going in early to feed Hero?" Her sister pranced to the door and grabbed her coat and bag from the closet. "Yup! How do I look? Ready for college?" Maddie studied her sister's worn, dark brown, western boots, her dark jeans (that fit on the... tighter side), and her tied off, white, long sleeve, button up shirt. She smiled. "As ready as you'll ever be." Amelia snorted. "HaHaHa! Aren't you cute? Whatever, I'll see you at school okay? Call me and we'll meet for lunch." Maddie nodded as her sister flung the door open and exited the room. "Sounds good." The door slammed shut and rattled the apartment walls. Madeline shook her head. "Well, at least she didn't-" The door flew open again. Amelia charged back into the kitchen and proceeded down the hall. After a minute, she reappeared in the room with her trade mark smirk and her pale brown cowgirl hat sitting proudly on her head. She winked. "Wouldn't want to forget my hat. See you at school!" The door slammed again as she headed out. Madeline sighed and placed her head in her hands. "-remember to grab her stupid hat."

-Later-

Amelia whistled happily as she strode down the long, beautiful aisles of the college's absolutely HUGE horse barn with a flake of hay tucked under her arm and a bucket of grain swinging in her hand. She passed stall after stall of well groomed, well managed horses. Trakehners, Dutch Warmbloods, Arabians, Lusitanos, Mogans, Oldenburgs, Thoroughbreeds, and Quarter horses among many others. Amelia was extremely giddy. _So awesome... _She stopped to pet the nose of a sweet draft mare that nickered at her and stuck her head into the aisle. Amelia giggled and continued on her way. Humming America's national anthem to herself,she turned down the row which her horse, _All American Hero_, was stalled in. Her step skipped a beat when she saw that someone was already at Hero's stall and had opened his head gate to allow him to stick his nose into the aisle, which coincidentally, also happened to block Amelia's view of the person's face. Hero had his ears set calmly and his eyes closed as the stranger ran a hand along his muzzle gently. As Amelia came closer, Hero's ears flipped toward her and he whinnied a greeting. The person at her stall turned to look at her. _HOLY Shhhit..._

On a 1-10 scale of hot, this guy had to be at _least _a fifteen. Slicked back, blonde hair, baby blue eyes, lean but muscular at the same time, tall... really tall, straight back, nice frame, serious expression. _Huh, this'll be fun._ Amelia smiled brightly as she approached the man. She pranced across the aisle way and opened her mouth to let out a loud good morn- "You're so out of your league, Fraulein." Amelia stopped in stunned stupor. "I- wha-?" He snorted and one of his eyebrows raised, almost sarcastically. "You think that this is going to be _so _easy, don't you? You think yourself so _competent _that you can just sit back and do _**nothing**_. Don't you? Little miss 'I'm better than everyone else here who had to **work** for what they have'. Well **let me tell you something...** " Amelia shrank away from the man as he stepped forward into her personal space. "I worked too hard for too long to let some silly little **girl** swoop in and take everything away from me. You don't know what it means to ride a horse. Reining? Please, that shouldn't even be considered a sport. **Anyone** can do it. Running circles isn't that difficult, after all." He turned back around to look at Hero. His mouth sneered with disdain. "Especially when you have such a pathetic excuse for an animal-"

Amelia lunged forward, dropping the hay and the grain bucket, and yanked the man around by the front of his jacket. His eyes went wide with shock and his mouth fell open slightly. Hero jerked back into his stall as Amelia's voice darkened with rage, her clenched fist held the guy in place and her eyes leveled with his. "Now you listen here _boy" _Amelia moved her face inches away from his. "You can insult my grades, my looks, my IQ, my house, my mother, my father, my clothes, BUT," They were centimeters away from each other. "You may not EVER insult my sister, or my _horse._"

Amelia shoved the guy away. He stumbled back before straightening to his full height indignantly. They were locked in a battle of glares. He looked away first. "Just stay out of my way." He shoved past her and moved swiftly down the aisle. "I COULD TELL YOU THE SAME THING!" Amelia yelled after him. Hero whinnied nervously. Amelia sighed and looked at him. "Hey buddy, you're alright. I'm sorry." She bent to pick up her flake of hay and her grain. Luckily, only a little had spilled. She approached the door, threw the hay onto the stall floor, and offered the grain bucket for Hero to eat out of. As he stuffed his face, Amelia thought about the man she had just met. _What gave him the RIGHT to say that to me?! __Damn o__verconfident German trainers think they're so great. Bunch of big bullies... __Geez, sometimes people just make me so MAD! _Amelia stamped her foot on the ground as Hero finished the grain. He turned around delicately in the stall to eat his hay. "Okay boy, I'll see you later alright? We'll ride when I finish my last class, pinky promise!"

After returning the bucket to the feed room with the rest of her stuff. She jogged out of the now more crowded barn and onto the sidewalk towards her first class. _I can't wait to ride Hero, it feels like it's been forever! _She frowned, _I just hope that guy isn't riding when I am. __How bad would it be to actually have to be around that jerk again__... _Amelia dismissed the thought._ Naw, that probably won't happen. __He looked pretty special, probably has a better time slot than I was assigned to. _Amelia made her way into the Agriculture building as a tall guy with platinum blond hair held the door open for her on his way out. She nodded to him, still deeply rooted in thought. "Thanks man." He smiled and nodded, "Pazhalooysta." Amelia checked her schedule for her class room number in the lobby of the big building before jogging tripping twice and circling the 3rd floor four times, she finally managed to find her first class of the day.

Ducking her head as she entered the room, she muttered apologies to the cross looking teacher who had already begun her lecture. Amelia slunk her way around people and took an open seat in the fifth row. Running her fingers through her short hair, she pulled out her old, used laptop and opened up a document for notes as the teacher launched back into a drawn out explanation about the evolution of potatoes. _Man, if today was any hint to how my year is going to go, then this is gonna be __some __tough __shit__..._

_*Writer's Note- I had the idea for this story for awhile but I didn't really have the motivation to start it. Looking at it now, I'm really happy I did. Hope you enjoyed and plan on staying tuned for more! I promise it'll get interesting! Oh, pazhalooysta means 'you're welcome' in Russian (or something like that). Peace-Berries and Beans_


	2. Chapter 2

Ludwig exhaled slowly as he finished his last cool down lap around the arena. _Eins, zwei, drei. Eins, zwei, drei. _He slowed his horse, _Glanzen_, out of her loose canter, coming to a halt in front of the gait where Arthur stood watching him. "Gutes mädchen." He stroked her neck affectionately as she snorted and dropped her head. Ludwig looked to Arthur, "Und...?" Arthur smiled snarkily. "She's still dropping her shoulder too much on the corners..." Ludwig frowned. "... but other than that, you two look brilliant." Ludwig dismounted and opened the gait, guiding his horse out of the arena and nodding to Arthur as he stepped out of the way. "Danke." Arthur smiled. "Anything for you old chap."

They walked side by side through the barn as Ludwig led Glanzen back to the cross ties by her stall. Arthur nodded to several people as they passed and attempted to make polite conversation until his riding slot opened. Ludwig didn't really pay attention, he just threw in grunts of agreement whenever Arthur looked to him for a response. It wasn't until Ludwig had put his saddle back into his tack locker and was leading Glanzen into her stall before Arthur said something that really caught his attention. "...I'm sure the new rider will be a good addition to the team anyway."

Ludwig's head snapped around as he shut the stall door. "What new rider?" Arthur's caterpillar eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Didn't anyone tell you? Coach just accepted a new reiner for the team. I think she'll be competing as a single though, too. Jett told me that she was pretty good- HEY! Ludwig, where are you going?! Don't walk away from me, you bloody git!" Ludwig marched furiously down the aisle on his way to the head coach's office, bridle still in his hand.

Coach Kent looked up as his door flew open and a very angry looking german stormed into his office. He sighed and set down the pictures he had been studying, "So you know then..." Ludwig paced back and forth in front of the desk, running his fingers through his neat hair. "WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME?! Gott verdammt!" He kicked the chair sitting in front of the desk as let out a deep, angry breath as he turned to look at his coach. "We don't NEED another rider, Trainer." Kent settled deeper into his chair as he studied Ludwig. "Yes we do- don't interrupt me Beilschmidt." Ludwig swallowed the argument he had been about to make as Kent continued. "We need more reiners to give us an advantage against other teams. Jett is good, but he can't pull all the weight by himself. Ludwig, you are a fantastic rider, as are your teammates, and I know you're worried that Amelia will drag you down. She won't. She's won national championships here in America and she is a force to be reckoned with." He chuckled. "Trust me, I know."

Ludwig's eyebrows crinkled with frustration. "I want you to show her the ropes around the barn, answer any questions she might have. Get her ready to show. She needs some friends, and you're the first person I'd recommend." Ludwig tried to interrupt but Kent cut him off. "Just give her a chance, Ludwig." After a moment, Ludwig gave his coach a curt nod and then turned and left the office, letting the door slam shut behind him. Coach Kent kept his eyes trained on the door for a moment before turning back to his pictures. He laughed quietly. "Good Lord, those two are going to murder each other by the end of this year, mark my words..."

*Writer's Note: Angry Ludwig is so fun to write... :3 Sorry this chapter is so short! I wanted that cut off point... I'm writing the next chapter right now if that makes you happy! Thanks for reading. Peace-Berries and Beans

**Translations:**

_Eins, zwei, drei. Eins, zwei, drei: _One, two, three. One, two, three. (The footfall of a canter)

_Gutes mädchen: _Good girl

_Danke:_ Thank you

_ Gott verdammt: _God damn


	3. Chapter 3

Ludwig stormed angrily through the barn. _Show her the ropes, as if! I worked for FOUR YEARS to get into this school! And she gets accepted IMMEDIATELY? Ficken alles! _He slammed his fist into the wall. "Hóha, Ludwig what is your problem?" Ludwig turned and came face to face with Elizabeta. "We have a new rider on the team." He grumbled unhappily. She laughed "Are you just now hearing about this?" "YES! How long have you known?!" She shrugged "A couple of weeks." He scowled. "Doesn't it bother you?" Elizabeta shrugged. "Nincs. I think it'll be fun. After all, it'll be nice to _finally _have another girl on the team. I wonder if she likes manga...?" She mused to herself. Ludwig snorted and shook his head. "Auf Wiedersehen, Lizzie." She waved as he strode away. "Rendben Ludwig, talk to you later!"

Ludwig was still mad as he went to leave the barn and head back to his apartment. Just as he passed the bulletin boards by the office, he got an idea. _I should at least look at her horse today, see if it's worth__y of being on __the team __even if __it's__ rider's not__..._ He studied the stall assignments posted on the bulletin boards and found the name 'Amelia' almost immediately. _Amelia F. Jones, stall 133A, 'All American Hero'. What kind of name for a horse is that? _He snorted with disdain and headed off to the other end of the barn. _Americans..._

He glanced over the nameplates on the stalls as he passed them. _Nein, nein, nein, ah! "_Ich habe dich gefunden." The stalled horse picked his head up in surprise and snorted as Ludwig stopped in front of him. Ludwig studied him intently. _Looks like a gelding, dark bay, _he stepped to the side so he could get a better view of the animal's body, _ass like a quarter horse, thick legs... _Ludwig scoffed. _Nothing special... _The horse moved forward and pressed his nose against the stall bars, whinnying softly. Ludwig reached out after a moment of hesitation and opened the stall's head door. 'All American Hero' pivoted slightly and stepped forward, pressing his nose into Ludwig's hand. _I guess he's nice enough... _Ludwig scratched the side of the horse's face lightly, making him press further into Ludwig's arms. He snorted as Ludwig moved his hands along his head. _H__e acts like a dog.. _His eyes softened slightly. Suddenly, All American Hero turned his head to greet someone coming down the aisle. Ludwig followed suite. _Mein GOTT. _

One of the most beautiful girls he had even seen was bouncing (in more ways than one) down the aisle toward him. Short, playful hair, shimmering, baby blue eyes, cheerfully curved lips, _ample_ chest, slender waist with curvy hips, long legs... Her clothing certainly left nothing to the imagination, that was for sure. Even though it was hot, tying a shirt to reveal that much mid drift could be considered pretty... flirty. And how the _hell _did she manage to get those jeans _on_? She was the poster child for all people ever categorized as rambunctious, cheerful blondes. Her face lit up when she caught sight of him. Ludwig took a deep breath as he prepared to chew her out. _Ludwig do NOT let her say anything or else she'll be in control. __She's probably used to everyone obeying her based on how she looks... __Just r__emember, SHE DOESN'T BELONG HERE._

Ludwig quickly threw on his 'competition' face. "You're so out of you're league, Fraulein." She stopped in front of him looking shocked. "I- wha-?" Ludwig continued, taking advantage of her surprise. He allowed sarcasm to drip from every word as he spoke. "You think that this is going to be _so _easy, don't you? You think yourself so competent that you can just sit back and do** _nothing_**. Don't you? Little miss 'I'm better than everyone else here who had to **work** for what they have'. Well **let me tell you something.**.. " her expression was fearful as Ludwig stepped into her personal space. _Verdammt, look at her face... it's too late though, I can't apologize now... _He wanted this to end as fast as possible._C__ome on, Fraulein, __just give up! _"I worked too hard for too long to let some silly little **girl** swoop in and take everything away from me. You don't know what it means to ride a horse. Reining? Please, that shouldn't even be considered a sport. **Anyone** can do it. Running circles isn't that difficult, after all." Ludwig tried to think of the most hurtful thing he could say that would make her run away with her tail between her legs. Then it came to him. N_atürlich..._ "Especially when you have such a pathetic excuse for an animal-"

Ludwig heard the clatter of a pail hitting the ground and then he was yanked around violently by the front of his sport's jacket. His eyes went wide when they were met with the burning rage that consumed Amelia's own eyes. "Now you listen here _boy" _She pulled his face into hers and he could feel her breath on his lips. "You can insult my grades, my looks, my IQ, my house, my mother, my father, my clothes, BUT," They were centimeters away from each other. "You may not EVER insult my sister, or my _horse._"

Ludwig stumbled back unsteadily as Amelia shoved him away. He felt shame and anger burning within him, but he couldn't find the right words to say to her. _Scheiße. _Ludwig looked away from her challenging glare as he felt color rising to his face. He needed to leave. Quickly, he pushed past Amelia. _Say SOMETHING before you leave, mann.. _"Just stay out of my way." He nearly jogged down the aisle as he heard her yell after him, "I COULD TELL YOU THE SAME THING!"

Ludwig stopped only when he got to Glanzen's stall. She watched him carefully as he approached with jerky movements. Ludwig stopped in front of her and ran his hands through his mussed hair. "HURENSOHN!" Pressing his back against the stall wall, he slide down to the cement floor, hands still clenched in his hair. _That went badly._ "Hallo West, I thought you weren't supposed to yell around horses."

Ludwig scowled and looked up to see his brother, Gilbert, walking toward him from the end of the aisle. He hesitated, "How much did you hear?" Gilbert smirked, "Are you talking about the conversation you just had with that heiß frau? All of it." Ludwig sighed and let his eyebrows rise in defeat. "You do know it's rude to listen to people when they are speaking privately to others, correct?" Gilbert snorted sarcastically, "You weren't exactly whispering." He offered his hand to Ludwig and Ludwig took it, pulling himself to his feet. "Why are you here Gilbert?" Gilbert snapped his fingers, like he had just remembered the reason why he had traveled a fair distance out of his way to the other end of campus. "Some friends and I are hanging out tonight and I wanted to know if you can come." Ludwig sighed and was about to say no when Gilbert interrupted him. "There's gonna be beer..." Ludwig bit his lip and looked over his shoulder, back down to the aisle where he knew Amelia would probably still be. "Fine." Gilbert cheered, so Ludwig added quickly, "But just because I really need it..." Gilbert laughed, "Kesesesese! Of course West! Of course! Whatever you say..." He threw an arm over his little brother's shoulder as they walked out of the barn together.

**Translations:**

_Ficken alles: _Fuck everything

_Ninc__s: _No

_Auf Wiedersehen: _Goodbye

_Rendben: _Okay

_Ich habe dich gefunden: _I found you

_Mein __Gott__: _My God

_Fraulein: _Polite 'Miss'

_Verdammt: _Damn

N_atürlich: _Of course

_Scheiße: _shit

_HURENSOHN: _Son of a Bitch

_Hallo: _'Hey'

_hei__ß __frau__: _'hot chick' (approximately)


End file.
